: Players could look up and down, navigating a desolate, post-apocalyptic Los Angeles that felt tangible and oppressive. The Open-World DNA

In 1995, while the rest of the world was still grappling with the "Doom clones" of the era, a relatively small Maryland-based studio called Bethesda Softworks released a title that would quietly change the architecture of first-person shooters forever. That game was The Terminator: Future Shock . A Pioneer of True 3D

If you look closely at the ruins of Skynet-controlled L.A., you can see the early fingerprints of what would eventually become The Elder Scrolls and Fallout .